Celtics have role for newest lottery pick in Jayson Tatum

Saturday

The Providence College basketball boss also knows Josh Jackson, Caleb Swanigan and three other players who became instant millionaires in the NBA Draft on Thursday.

Two summers ago Cooley was an assistant coach for USA Basketball’s gold medal winning team in the 19-Under world championships. Arizona’s Sean Miller served as the head coach but Cooley sweated as much as anyone as the Americans squeaked past Croatia in overtime to win gold and complete a 7-0 run through the tournament.

“That was a great experience and really gets better as time goes by because you appreciate the talent on the team and the group as a whole. They were really fun kids to be around,” Cooley said.

Cooley helped select the team at the USA Basketball training center in Colorado and then spent two weeks at the tournament in Greece. Cooley had a mix of happiness and pride seeing Tatum, Jackson, Swanigan, Harry Giles, Terrence Ferguson and Jawun Evans all realizing their NBA dreams on draft night.

“It was unbelievable,” Cooley said. “To see basically the team all go in the same draft was so exciting.”

So what does Cooley think of Tatum, the Celtics’ most recent lottery pick?

“I know people went back and forth on Jayson and Josh Jackson but I’m happy the Celtics have Jayson Tatum,” Cooley said. “Josh is a great athlete and very competitive. He should be a great defender, but Jayson can be a better pro with his skill set offensively.”

Tatum filled a role with the USA team that Brad Stevens will draw up for him in Boston. He can guard any forward and even some scoring guards if asked to. On offense, he can do a little of everything.

“He’s a scorer,” Cooley said. “He can really score mid-range, just deadly in the mid-range. He can also get it off the rim and lead the break and will be good in the pick-and-roll.”

It’s clear that Ainge and Stevens are also huge fans of Tatum as a person. If the decision was even close, the St. Louis native won out over Jackson after winning rave reviews in interviews and from conversations with Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. Jackson, meanwhile, couldn’t wait to distance himself from the Celts. He had a planned meeting with the team in Sacramento but cancelled it while Ainge was in a plane jetting to the West Coast.

Tatum and Jackson frequently paired with Giles in team USA’s frontcourt and it was no question who the best player, and prospect, was at the time. The 6-10 Giles could run like a deer and score inside and out. He averaged 14 points and 10 rebounds and earned all-tournament honors.

A few months later, Giles tore his ACL just before committing to play at Duke. A year later, Giles hurt his knee again. He was just a shell of himself this year coming off the bench for the Blue Devils yet still was the 20th player selected.

“We called him 'Dirty Harry,' ’’ Cooley said. “He would have been the No. 1 pick if he didn’t get hurt. He was a beast, like the second coming of Chris Webber.”

Even with a team loaded with first-round talent, Team USA needed overtime to outlast Croatia, 79-71, in overtime. That Croatian team included Lakers 7-footer Ivica Zubac and a player who Celtics fans will become acquainted with very shortly. Ante Zizic, the 7-footer the Celts drafted in the first round last season and stashed in Istanbul, hurt the Americans with 16 points and 9 rebounds in a preliminary game defeat but injured his groin and could not play in the championship game.

Cooley certainly remembers Zizic. He says it’s no surprise that the big man finished second in the Euroleague’s Rising Star voting after averaging nine points and 6.7 rebounds per game in 20 appearances. He’s expected to play with the Celtics this summer and flash what scouts say is elite skill as a rebounder.

“It just goes to show you how much talent there was in that tournament,” he said. “I think there’s seven guys off the American team drafted already and the MVP in the tournament was Jalen Brunson [Villanova] and he’ll get drafted. The other teams had pros, too. We were very talented and still fortunate to win the gold medal.”

Kevin McNamara writes for the Providence Journal of GateHouse Media.

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